THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
The Ben Folds Five Digest
Issue #635 - November 20, 1997
Magical Armchair Digest Thursday, November 20 1997 Volume 01 : Number 635
THE MAGICAL ARMCHAIR
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TOPICS IN THIS DIGEST:
BRICK getting play
the LA show
The sister songs and their meanings
Napkins and your parents
my BFF issues
For Armchair Members ONLY
The whole gay issue
Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #628
unsubscribe
Chicago Setlist
Howard
i beg of you for 11-17 mpls.
Rhapsody in Blue
Ben and Brick
Two albums
Philosophy? Am I missing something?
who is howard?
To Whom it may concern
Thanks.
Re: boots/Bands that allow Taping
"selfless" and trading...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 19:18:52 -0600 (CST)
From: Nate Mathews
Subject: BRICK getting play
Just a note- "Brick" is getting airplay on our the local "hip"
alternative radio station. Since the station(in Champaign) is an aexact
clone of Q101 in Chicago, I assume they're playing it too, but I dunno.
Definetly cool.
-Nate
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cross Country: Finally a practical use for golf courses
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 17:46:58 -0800
From: jennie church-cooper
Subject: the LA show
hey everyone--
i have a question concerning the LA show at the el rey on nov.30... i
just found out today that i can go to that show (along with the SF show
which i already have tickets for) but when i went to get tickets they
said it was sold out. does anyone know anything about the el rey, like
do they normally release more tickets later? should i just give up?
if you can help me, e-mail me at jchurchc@ucsd.edu....
thank you!
jennie :)
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 21:41:58 -0500
From: Jessica Brandt
Subject: The sister songs and their meanings
>Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 19:34:01 -0800
>From: "Ryan S. O'Leary"
>Subject: meaning of missing the war
>Hey, what are some interpretations of "Last Polka" and the "sister song to
that"
>"Missing the War"?? just wondering what everyone else thought.
>- -ryan
"Last Polka" i think is kind of like Peal Jam's "Betterman" I think it's
about two people just pretending to be in love and they'd really be happier
apart but they can't bear to tell each other until it just blows up "you
been pushing me like i was a sore tooth..." "Baby i was doin' fine....."
"Missing the war" i think is from the guy's point of view. he is "missing
the war" of the dating/singles scene. Here he has a house and a wife/live
in gf but he just wants to party and go out and be single. Once again,
people who would be happier apart.
what do you think? both of these are AWESOME songs.
jess
"I wish it was
last September"
-Ben Folds
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 21:51:24 -0500
From: Jessica Brandt
Subject: Napkins and your parents
First off, i was wondering if anyone else grabbed some of the shiny-printed
Ben Folds Five cocktail napkins at their last indoor tour (like, before
HORDE). Did they have them anywhere else but Cleveland?
Also...."Brick" is being played on lite-rock stations across the country.
Since it is, my mom is like "i really like Ben Folds Five, will you make me
a tape? it's such a nice song" I was like "Mooo-oooommm....i have been
trying to get you to listen to them for YEARS and now since they're on the
stupidest radio stations in Ohio you want them?!?!?" of course, i'll make
her a tape. She also likes Chumbawumba now because they play that God-awful
song on the same station. I think parents are as bad as kids when it comes
to deciding what they like from what they hear on the radio. Like Ben said
"Shit yeah it's cool, they play it ont he radio"
anyone else have a strange occurence like this with their parents?
jess
"I wish it was
last September"
-Ben Folds
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 21:21:25
From: "Hannah Kuhlmann"
Subject: my BFF issues
Hi, my name is Hannah and this is my first post on the Armchair. I've been
addicted to BFF ever since I heard Underground on the radio (sound
familiar?) but I only just joined the list because I have some serious
issues to deal with. Here's my problem: Powerful cosmic forces have
conspired to prevent me from seeing the boys live! Just yesterday I missed
them at First Avenue in Minneapolis becaue I'm not 21, and about a year ago
I missed them in Madison WI (the club they played at subsequently burned to
the ground a day or two later. . .I think it's a sign. . .). I'm ready to
crack here! My only consolation is to watch my "Sessions at West 54th" tape
over and over again, and hum along.
What's the deal with this Ben being gay thing? At first I thought everyone
was referring to the Kate video (which I found immensely entertaining.
Robert makes the cutest faces when he sings!) Although it's always
fascinating to learn something new about an artist you love, I guess I don't
think everybody should make a big thing out of whatever Ben's deal is. As
long as he and the guys keep the albums coming, I could care less who any of
them are interested in. Wow. I'm listening to the self-titled CD, and as I
typed previous sentence, the lyric in Sports and Wine played "I don't
understand it either, guess that makes me gay." I swear, there are
supernatural forces entwining me and BFF in the scariest way.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thank God it's you,
you know your timing is impeccable.
I'm not fooling you,
I don't know what to do. . .
- -BEN FOLDS
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 19:19:45 -0800
From: Jim Masterson
Subject: For Armchair Members ONLY
Hey guys,
While I was at the HORDE festival in Columbus, Ohio, I got a chance to
see Ben Folds with my second favorite artist Neil Young! It was awesome.
Especially when I got to meet BF5 and go backstage with them.
I love "Brick" and "Cigarette," especially the way they make you
depressed. Quintuple AWESOME.
When I got backstage, Ben was lighting up a crack pipe! YEAH! I KNEW Ben
did crack because where else does those songs come from? Anyways, he
passed the pipe around and got to smoke CRACK WITH BEN FOLDS!
BF5 is the COOLEST band I've ever seen. ROCK ON BEN! ROCK ON!
Jim Masterson
masterson@msn.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 19:20:45 -0800
From: Todd Flanagan
Subject: The whole gay issue
Hey guys,
I've been a lurker on the armchair for quite a while now, and with all
this news about Ben possibly being gay, I have to come forward.
Guys, Ben is gay, or at least experimented. I know this because, well,
I've been with him. It was a couple of years ago, before they started
reaching mainstream popularity. I figured I could let the Armchair know
because we're all fans of BF5. Ben doesn't particularly hide the fact
(I've seen him with guys at a couple shows), but it's pretty low-key and
he doesn't like it publicized.
Why tell the group? Because we're the big fans, and I know the secret is
safe with us.
- -tf
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 22:45:51 -0500 (EST)
From: Virginia Song
Subject: Re: Magical Armchair Digest V1 #628
Hey guys!
A suggestion for the pre-party for the Georgetown/DC show...party at the
Tombs on 36th and prospect Street..it's the coolest and closest bar to
campus! See ya there!
- -Ginny Song
Ramsey Tate
Georgetown Program Board
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 22:51:48 -0500 (EST)
From: David Aron Reaboi
Subject: unsubscribe
unsubscribe
------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 22:54:24 -0500
From: Cassandra Hughes
Subject: Chicago Setlist
For those of y'all who went to horde in Chicago:
If you can remember that far back, does anybody know what the setlist
was or where I can get it? Thanks!
he drinks a whisky drink he drinks a vodka drink. he drinks a lager
drink. he drinks a cider drink. -Chumbawamba
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 23:08:57 -0500
From: Carrie Shanafelt
Subject: Howard
>Who is HOWARD, from "boxing?"
The song Boxing, according to Ben, is a fictional converstation between
Howard Cosell and Muhammed Ali. My brain doesn't work 95% of the time,
though, so I probably just said something stupid. That's what I think I
mean to say.
Carrie
"Inflate your tires by all means, but then hide your bicycle pump where it
cannot tempt you." -- a spokesperson from the Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Nov 1997 23:20:05 -0600
From: Eric Trondson-Clinger
Subject: i beg of you for 11-17 mpls.
just a little begging coming from me...i was at the show at first ave
(minneapolis) on monday, and just before ben and the boys started playing,
my girlfriend had a seizure and had to be taken to the hospital. don't
worry, she's fine...had to stay the night in the hospital, but it's
apparently just a one time thing. what i'm begging for is this: do any of
y'all have a boot of the show? i'd really like to be able to give it to her
as a gift, since we weren't able to stay for the show. i can trade the
irving plaza show, but that's the only boot i have...well, except for a
couple 10,000 maniacs bootlegs. and i got plenty of blank tapes too, baby.
sorry to fill up the armchair with begging, but it'd kick ass if you could
help me and her out. thanks...
- ----------------------------g l o r y p r o s e---
H o l y b o y R o a d
http://www1.minn.net/~holyboy/
h o o t c h
http://www1.minn.net/~holyboy/hootch/
Eric Trondson-Clinger - holyboy@minn.net
School aint shit, I read it in a book.
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 00:25:38 -0500
From: Rebecca.Cole@mail.cc.trincoll.edu (Rebecca Cole)
Subject: Rhapsody in Blue
>Wasn't Gerschwin Tin Pan Alley (American Pop. song) and not really
>considered classical? (Although he was trained in the european classics).
>Maybe I'm just a picky person......never mind...
Gershwin composed Broadway, generally, but also classical. "Rhapsody In
Blue" is classical. Tin Pan Alley songs have words and were meant to be
sung in little speakeasies during the prohibition. They were generally not
from Broadway shows, "Rhapsody" was written for concert performance by a
classically-trained musician. Another example of classical Gershwin
appropriated by pop musicians is "Summertime" from the opera _Porgy and
Bess_, which is quoted poorly in that new lame-ass Sublime single.
Not that any of this really matters.
I still want a karaoke button on my stereo. And I don't think that any boys
ever should wear turtlenecks, especially not Ben. End of story.
Nobody puts Baby in the corner,
Rebby
***
"These knees have stories, she said, but they'd have to be a mouth to tell
them." -Brian Andreas
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 00:46:41 -0500
From: "Derek Supranowicz"
Subject: Ben and Brick
For all you wondering about brick, I have something you may find
interesting, I don't know if it means anything or not. At the Richmond show
on Nov 10th Ben muttered right before the song, saying a friend left a
message on his machine the other day "I saw her in the mall the other day"
and then he started to play brick. That was pretty much the quote, it
might have been supermarket but who knows, its the general gist, take in
in what sense thou wilt. I wanted to ask him about it after the show but it
did not seem appropriate.
Also I want to know if anyone has the video's for Brick, OAD, and BOWCCL on
tape, I got real TV ones off the net but I want a hard copy, I will send a
blank VHS, also SESSIONS, I want a copy of that being at college with no
VCR I missed it, is there anyone willing to make a copy of any of these
things for me? Send me email.
Derek
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 01:00:44 -0500
From: "Derek Supranowicz"
Subject: Two albums
By the way, to those who askes Ben and Trey said maybe by june that second
album will be out, NBP will be this season though. Trey said the Fourth
album isn't even in the works really yet but it is going to happen, ben
said he has some songs going and will begin recording after the tour. He did
not mention the BFF Quintet, but it would definetly be cool to see it
happen.
Derek
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 08:44:20 +0000 (GMT)
From: Marc Stephens
Subject: Philosophy? Am I missing something?
Hi Everyone,
A number of times people have mentioned a "classical" part at the end of
Philosophy. I have yet to hear this - after a load of banging away at the
piano the song just ends. Is this some rare version of the song or is it
really Underground people are talking about?
Cheers from England,
Marc
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 02:38:55 PST
From: "kim t"
Subject: who is howard?
someone asked who howard form boxing was...(sorry can't remember who
asked). i read somewhere that it's about a sporting commentator named
Howard Cosell who followed the life of Muhammed Ali closely. He was a
boxing commentator for 20 years or something.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 06:36:48 -0600
From: Pluvius Dope
Subject: To Whom it may concern
The Chorus for "Song For The Dumped" is:
Give me My Money Back, Give Me My Money Back, You Bitch.....And Dont Forget
My Black T-Shirt.
The Howard in Boxing is Howard Cosell. The song is a conversation between
Mohammad Ali and Howard Cosell.
Pluvius Dope
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 09:02:36 -0500 (EST)
From: marc s kaplan
Subject: Thanks.
I will get how ever many cd's are there, for the people who asked.
But please no more responses, I'm sure they dont have too many.
thanks
-/\/\arc
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 09:45:34 -0500
From: Alex Castner
Subject: Re: boots/Bands that allow Taping
The band is officially against boots. This means that they will NOT allow
you to patch into their soundboard or set up mic stands. You can always
stealth (sneaking in your equipment) the show, but you do that is at your
own risk.
Go to this web site to see The Bands that Allow Taping
http://www.eklektix.com/dat-heads/recordable_bands.html
Later,
Alex
____________________________________________________________________________
________
Alex Castner
285 Old Westport Rd
Cedar Dell Box 6040
N. Dartmouth, MA 02747 USA
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Nov 1997 10:05:18 +0500
From: ljd128@psu.edu (theo b (len))
Subject: "selfless" and trading...
has anyone noticed how much "selfless cold and composed" sounds like
something vince guaraldi (sp?), the jazz pianist who wrote, among other
things, the charlie brown theme music?
also, i recently mailed a few people about ben trading... if you're a die
hard collector, i have access to the uncle walter promo single... it's just
got the one song, but, hey some people collect stuff. let me know if this
might tickle your fancy...
len damico jumpingcow@psu.edu
" so convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature,
since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one
has a mind to do." - benjamin franklin
------------------------------
End of Magical Armchair Digest V1 #635
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